This year Armenia will celebrate “Earth Hour” environmental event for the 9th time. “Clean Armenia” initiative is launching its world campaign with this event aiming to hold an international campaign of garbage cleaning.

“Earth Hour” campaign was launched in Sydney, Australia in 2007, where around 2 million people turned off their lights for one hour for raising awareness for environmental problems of the planet and prevention of climate change.

“Earth Hour” will be held in Armenia on 25 March, from 20:30 to 21:30. The external lighting of a number of buildings and monuments and street lighting will be turned off for one hour in the capital and in a number of towns in Armenia.

The participants of the press conference dedicated to the event called for all to join “Earth Hour” and “Clean Armenia” campaigns.

“Each country is selecting its priorities and we are happy that the Prime Minister has selected “Clean Armenia” idea. We have a wonderful country and nature, but this nature is full of garbage landfills. We are joining this initiative and call international bodies and donors to join it too. I think we all are able to make it true,” WWF Armenia Director Karen Manvelyan said.

“Today we are launching our national campaign of garbage cleaning in Armenia. We have already started to inventory and map all the garbage landfills and dumps. This process has already launched. In our Noyemberyan area we have already inventories and mapped 42 landfills. In Tavush region we have inventoried so-called 190 garbage dumps. We have such 33 garbage dumps in the optimized community in Dilian in different states and different extents of exploitation. It’s simply impossible,” said Artashes Bakhshyan, Head of Department for Investment Policy of Territorial Administration and Development Ministry.

According to Artashes Bakhshyan, the final aim is to establish sanitary garbage landfill sites in the whole area of the republic in line with the European standards.

“Over these 20 years that the QSI has been working in Armenia, we are attempting to implement educational initiatives in Armenia and to explain the importance of environmental issues. Simply educating is not enough, but it’s also needed to serve as an example. We are expressing our willingness to take part in "Earth Hour 2017" World Campaign,” QSI International School Director Robbie Reno said in his speech.

“We are also joining this initiative and calling all to join it. When uniting people are a great power and can do many things in nature protection,” said Luciano Casagrande, General Manager of Double Tree by Hilton Yerevan City Center.